Juan Pierre

Michael Young led the American League in hits for the second time in his career in 2011, finishing with 213. That brought his career total to 2,061 through age 34, and despite a late start — he didn’t collect his first hit in the majors until age 24 — he appeared to have some shot…

Here’s the rundown of where this winter’s top 150 free agents are landing, continuously updated throughout the offseason. Re-signings are posted in red, while players signing with new teams are in blue. Stars denote players who received qualifying offers and thus will cost their new team a draft pick if they sign elsewhere. (Non-tenders have…

This year’s annual free agents column has expanded to a top 150, though I’m writing up just the top 55 (it was going to be 50, but I couldn’t help myself). The rest are presented in a list. Not included are players whose contract options are sure to be exercised. Players are ranked based not…

This is about the Philadelphia Phillies, but let’s start with the Chiefs. I have always been fascinated by the Kansas City Chiefs of the 1970s. You probably know that the Chiefs of the late 1960s and early 1970s were among the best teams in football. They played in Super Bowl I, and they won Super…

Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier has faced a lot of hardship this season. He hasn’t hit well, currently sitting on a .236 average with five home runs and a .681 OPS. Manager Don Mattingly was very critical of him in the media. Some upstart Cuban rookie, Yasiel Puig, is making him look small-time. And he is…

Last night Juan Pierre became the 18th player in baseball history with at least 600 stolen bases, which was cause for celebration in the Marlins clubhouse. But as Craig Davis of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes, they went in a different direction than the usual champagne: The head-scratcher was the pyramid of Hawaiian Punch…

Cardinals 6, Brewers 5: Jake Westbrook with career win 100. And get this: dude allowed only one run in six innings and his ERA increased. Which, yes, will happen when you come in at 0.98. It’s now an unsightly 1.10. He talked after the game how 100 was a goal for him. And while, no,…

Between now and Opening Day, HardballTalk will take a look at each of baseball’s 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2013 season. Up next: The Miami Marlins. The Big Question: Can the Marlins recover from their latest fire sale? A little over a year…

That’s the way new Marlins manager Mike Redmond is looking to kick off his lineup; Juan Pierre, Placido Polanco and Giancarlo Stanton are likely to occupy the top three spots. Sadly, Pierre and Polanco seemed like givens to bat first and second from the moment they were plucked from the bargain bin this winter. The…

The Phillies have just announced that they’ve signed Yuniesky Betancourt to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training. Likely because Ruben Amaro wants me to be happy. Betancourt hit .228/.256/.400 with seven homers last season and over the course of his career he has been one of the most consistent out-creators in all…

Last season Austin Kearns turned a minor-league contract with the Marlins into a part-time bench role and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the 33-year-old outfielder is expected to re-sign on another minor-league deal. Kearns appeared in 87 games and logged 175 plate appearances, hitting .245 with a .733 OPS. That doesn’t sound…

We’ll be updating this one throughout the offseason. Players are listed based on their ranking in the Top 111 Free Agents. At the bottom is a listing of free agents who signed before the ranking came out, and we’ll be adding signings of players who didn’t make the top 111 as they come in. (Update:…

When the Twins traded Denard Span last week the assumption was that they did so in part because Ben Revere was ready to step in as their new center fielder and leadoff man, but now they’ve traded Revere to the Phillies. Todd Zolecki of MLB.com broke the news and Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com says the…

As originally reported by Craig Mish of Sirius XM and then confirmed by ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Marlins have signed veteran outfielder Juan Pierre. Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. Pierre, 35, batted .307/.351/.371 in 439 plate appearances this past season for the Phillies, successfully swiping 37 bases in 44 attempts. The Marlins…

B.J. Upton is apparently on a grand tour of the N.L. East. Yesterday he met with the Braves. Ken Rosenthal reports today that earlier in the week he met with the Phillies. For his part, he’s enjoying the attention: I’m really blown away by the love other cities are showing me right now. Can’t wait…

I would have preferred to have posted this last week, but here’s the remainder of the updated top 111 free agents column. In case you missed it, the top 50 was posted last Friday. Players in the top 111 are ranked based not on how I view them, but more on how I believe teams…

Center field is the one strong position in free agency this winter, and many teams appear to see view Michael Bourn as the head of a class that also includes B.J. Upton, Angel Pagan and Shane Victorino. I do no share that view. Bourn turns 30 next month. He was one of the NL’s better…

The Mets’ Jeremy Hefner was pulled from his start Thursday against the Phillies after failing to retire any of the seven batters he faced. Hefner gave up six singles in a row, including a bunt single to Juan Pierre, and then walked Kevin Frandsen with the bases loaded before being replaced by Collin McHugh. Since…

Sure, these new Dodgers may have as much buying power as any three other National League teams combined, but at least fans of other clubs can take heart that Ned Colletti will remain the one doing the spending after inking a mulityear contract extension on Saturday. Colletti’s Dodgers have the NL’s third-best record since he…

Jimmy Rollins, Juan Pierre and Chase Utley combined to go 8-for-10 with five RBI and four walks from the first three spots in the order as the Phillies beat the Marlins 9-7 on Tuesday to claw their way back to .500 at 71-71. The Phillies last saw .500 on June 4. They’ve won 14 of…

The Orioles lost Nick Markakis for the year, and that leaves a hole in the outfield. Danny Knobler has a suggestion: With Nick Markakis out with a broken thumb, Juan Pierre could help the Orioles. Markakis was their leadoff hitter. Pierre, who has 34 steals and a .346 on-base percentage for the Phillies, would give manager Buck Showalter another option to replace…

It’s getting to be that time of year, so here is the first of two stabs at a Top 111 free agents list. The other will come shortly after the World Series concludes. Players are ranked based on how I believe teams perceive them, not how I view them myself. Essentially, I rank the players…

Blue Jays 10, Yankees 7: Holy frijole, did you see Rajai Davis’ catch, robbing Casey McGehee of a home run in the seventh? The guy is like 5”9″ and the wall is like ten feet and he went Spud Webb on that bad boy. Or Spiderman. Or something. Just wow. Otherwise, the Jays beat the tar out…

Juan Pierre has collected more infield hits than anyone else in the game since arriving in the majors in 2000, but he had never won a game with one until now. Pierre beat out a grounder to deep short in the bottom of the 11th inning to score Jimmy Rollins and give the Phillies an…

Juan Pierre has been a below average hitter with some speed (though not stellar base running skills) and meh-to-poor defense for several years now. Seemingly everywhere he’s gone, the fan base soon starts to cry out for his ouster. Yet Pierre continues to find work and continues to get playing time at a rate which…